{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T03:45:37Z","timestamp":1791603937332,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,25]],"date-time":"2024-09-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727222400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":24,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,27]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The global prevalence of mental health disorders has risen significantly since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has additionally caused disruption to mental health services, leading to a shift from in-person to remote service delivery. Given its long-term impact, it has become critical to evaluate whether changes in health delivery during the pandemic have had an effect on prescribing patterns for commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs. This study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in psychotropic prescribing patterns in adults, as well as differences in prescribing in different healthcare delivery approaches across various geographical contexts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design and eligibility requirements<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Systematic review of cohort, interrupted time-series and cross-sectional studies examining prescribing trends for at least one commonly prescribed psychotropic drug during and after COVID-19 in accessing care remotely or face to face between 1 January 2020 and 17 June 2022.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Data sources<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, HMIC and PsycINFO databases were searched in addition to citation chaining of relevant reviews.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Extraction and analysis<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Study screening, data extraction and quality assessment were completed by two independent reviewers. The PECO strategy was used to devise the systematic review and findings were synthesised narratively.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>16 studies were eligible for inclusion. Studies documenting changes in psychotropic prescribing trends provided very conflicting findings. There were no stark differences in prescribing outcomes between different healthcare delivery methods (ie, face-to-face consultations vs remote consultations). A noteworthy finding was that the prescribing rate of benzodiazepines was higher in women than men. No particular trends were observed for the prescription rates of hypnotics, antidepressants or antipsychotics.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Findings support mixed trends in the prescription of psychotropic medications in a range of settings, hindering conclusive statements on COVID-19\u2019s impact on prescribing. In areas where remote consultations are in use, more comprehensive research is required to assess the safety of prescribing in these settings to inform public health policy and assess if the observed trends in our systematic review persist over time (given the increased consideration of remote and telehealth care in delivering services), particularly the safe and effective deployment of these services.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2023-076791","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,25]],"date-time":"2024-09-25T22:50:15Z","timestamp":1727304615000},"page":"e076791","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychotropic prescribing: a systematic review"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2040-9797","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Swettha","family":"Mahesarajah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marie Line","family":"El Asmar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Imperial College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ryan","family":"Irwin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antonio J","family":"Vallejo-Vaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicina, University of Seville, Sevilla, Spain"},{"name":"Imperial Centre for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention (ICCP), Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK"},{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Vascular Risk, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla, IBiS\/Hospital Universitario Virgen del Roc\u00edo\/Universidad de Sevilla\/CSIC, Seville, Spain"},{"name":"CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nikolaos","family":"Mastellos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Imperial College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kanika I","family":"Dharmayat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Imperial Centre for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention (ICCP), Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025121410312010000_14.9.e076791.1","article-title":"Quantifying the global burden of mental disorders and their economic value","volume":"54","author":"Arias","year":"2022","journal-title":"E Clin Med"},{"key":"2025121410312010000_14.9.e076791.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2022.830334","article-title":"Effect of Repeated Home Quarantine on Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD Symptoms in a Chinese Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study","volume":"13","author":"Tang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front Psychiatry"},{"key":"2025121410312010000_14.9.e076791.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1700","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(21)02143-7","article-title":"Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"398","author":"Santomauro","year":"2021","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"2025121410312010000_14.9.e076791.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3389\/fdgth.2020.578902","article-title":"Early Warning Signs of a Mental Health Tsunami: A Coordinated Response to Gather Initial Data Insights From Multiple Digital Services Providers","volume":"2","author":"Inkster","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Digit Health"},{"key":"2025121410312010000_14.9.e076791.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhin.2020.04.031"},{"key":"2025121410312010000_14.9.e076791.6","unstructured":"Mind UK . 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